You Have to Pick a Pocket or Two
by Winter-Rae
Summary: While walking through a train station Bridgette catches someone trying to nick her wallet. After catching them in the act, she’s surprised to see an old teammate of hers. Main pairing: Duncan/Bridgette, side: LeShawna/Tyler.


**You Have to Pick a Pocket or Two**

**Title:** You Have to Pick a Pocket or Two

**Summary:** While walking through a train station Bridgette catches someone trying to nick her wallet. After catching them in the act, she's surprised to see an old teammate of hers.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing!

**Pairings:** Main: Duncan/Bridgette, side: Leshawna/Tyler, mentioned: Eva/Harold and Lindsey/Noah

**Warnings:** The usual

**Winter-Rae:** Another request done. I have to say I am pretty happy about that. Anyway this is for **nurturing**, who asked for a Duncan/Bridgette fic. Mind you I didn't want to write this one because I don't like it. Oh well. Enjoy.

* * *

**You Have to Pick a Pocket or Two**

Stealing people's wallets was a delicate process, one which Duncan considered himself to be an expert on. He'd been doing it ever since he was 10 and actually thought it a pretty interesting way to get what he wanted. His uncle Vinnie had taught him how to do it when he was visiting them once, much to his parent's annoyance. Duncan got a kick out of watching Vinnie take his dad's wallet every now and then without him noticing.

So, whenever he was a little short on cash he had no problem lifting someone's wallet, taking whatever was inside of it, and dropping it on the ground. The only decent thing he did in this process was make sure that he dropped it near said person he stole it from; that way they would find it quickly and chalk it up to them dropping the item. Until they noticed money was missing from it of course.

The best place to do this was in crowded areas; bus stops, train stations, subways, shopping malls, all of the above served their purpose just fine. Today, Duncan happened to be in a train station, waiting for the people on the train to get off.

Train stations were probably his favourite choice when it came to selecting his victims. To him, the people coming in from long trips and were often the best ones to target. They were tired, cranky, and all they wanted was to get home or to their hotel rooms to sleep. Also, they were the least likely to notice someone lifting their wallet from them.

The hardest part about taking wallets was figuring out where the target kept said item. Most men kept theirs in either their back pants pocket or their jacket pocket. Going for the ones in the jacket was the easiest since the jacket was often away from the body; which meant he would be less likely to get caught.

Women on the other hand were almost impossible to get a hold of. Pretty much all of them had purses and it was a waste of time to try and get into a purse to get a wallet. However, on the off chance that a girl didn't have a purse, their wallets; again were in their back pockets.

Duncan didn't mind pick pocketing either gender, it was all about getting some extra and easy cash; speaking of which. He just saw a blonde tuck her wallet into the front pocket of her hoodie.

Hoodie shirts were one of the easiest things to get into. The baggy make of them, add to that, the huge pocket. It was a prime make for pick pocketing. Duncan would almost bet that a pickpocket invented the hoodie.

So, he shook off his nerves and started to make his way towards the girl. He wouldn't take too much from her. Maybe twenty bucks, yeah, that would be alright. And hopefully she wasn't one of those chicks who only carried a debit card either, those were a pain in the ass, not to mention bad for business.

* * *

Bridgette adjusted her backpack as she stepped off the steps of the train and onto the platform. In her opinion it was much too crowded in this place. She quickly started to follow the other people towards the escalators that would take her into Union Station in Toronto.

Oh how she hated Toronto; it stank, there were too many people, it stank, it was way too loud and well, it stank. And since she did the not so smart thing and decided to come to Toronto in the summer, it was even worse.

'LeShawna better appreciate this,' Bridgette thought to herself.

She was in Toronto only for a few hours, thank goodness for that. She would soon be catching a bus to the city of Peterborough where her friend was living. LeShawna had begged her to come and visit her and Tyler. The two of them even paid for the trip. So with a free trip to Peterborough with a short three hour stop in Toronto Bridgette couldn't really complain, except for the smell of course.

It had been a long time since she had seen LeShawna too, so it would be a welcomed time. She had heard that Peterborough was a very nice city so she was happy to see it. New places were always fun for her but Toronto, no way.

She went on to the baggage area and waited patiently for the machine to start so she could gather her suitcase. Then she was going to grab something to eat and read for a bit before heading to the bus station to catch her bus.

While she waited for her bag, she reached for her wallet to check her ticket for the time in which her bus would be leaving. Then she looked at her watch; she had plenty of time so there was no need to rush.

'Thank goodness for that,' she thought as she replaced her wallet in the pocket of her hoodie. She spotted her blue suitcase and quickly grabbed it. Then she turned and started to make her way to the doors, bumping into someone as she walked.

"Oops, sorry," she said, looking over at the person. It was a guy, taller than she was with a head full of black hair and a...green mohawk?

Bridgette arched and eyebrow. There was no way he was who she thought he was. But, going against her initial plan, she hurried after him.

"Hey!" she called out, "Wait a minute."

The guy paused and winced. He then turned; steel blue eyes met sea green ones.

"Duncan?" she said in shock, surprised that she had been right in the first place. The punk looked at her for a moment and then he snickered.

"Oh crap, Bridgette?"

He shifted on his feet.

"So," he mused, trying to think of what to say to her, "How are ya?"

She smiled.

"I'm alright and you?"

"Not bad."

Duncan scratched the back of his head and Bridgette noticed something in his other hand; it was a light blue wallet with a dolphin clip on the zipper. Her hands instantly went to her hoodie pocket and upon not finding her wallet and frowned at him.

"Hey! That's mine!" she snapped.

"What this?" he asked, playing dumb and holding up the wallet, "You dropped it. I was just holding it for you."

"I'm so sure," she said sarcastically as she snatched it back from the punk and punched his arm as hard as she could. He rubbed the spot, even though it hardly hurt him.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked angrily. He smirked at her.

"Picking the wrong pocket apparently," he replied. Bridgette's jaw dropped.

"You were stealing?" she demanded, sounding more hurt than annoyed, "From me?"

"I was gonna give it back, and if it's any consolation I didn't know it was you."

"I doubt that."

She turned on her heel and started to walk away. He hurried after her.

"I was I swear...you still have a nice ass I see."

"You're still a pig I see," she retorted, "Maybe I should call the cops on you."

She reached for her cell phone. He grabbed her hands and looked around.

"Shh," he hushed her, "Please don't do that, I don't feel like going back to jail right now...especially since I just got out this morning."

Bridgette arched an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me right?"

"Nope, see I don't even have any shoe laces."

She looked down at his feet and sure enough there were no laces in his shoes.

"Nothing's changed you," she asked, "All that time with Courtney I would have thought would do you some good."

Duncan waved off that comment.

"Are you kidding me? All her nagging and bitching drove me nuts; we broke up after the last season was done. The breakup sex was great though."

"Ew," Bridgette replied, "I didn't need to hear that, at all."

"Jealous?"

"You wish."

"Hell yes."

"Pardon?"

"You're so much hotter than she was, nicer too I might add, you and Geoff still together?"

"We broke up last year," she replied, "The long distance thing was too hard to keep up. And if you think you're flattering me, you're so wrong."

"Geoff was seeing someone else wasn't he?" Duncan asked. Bridgette didn't answer him. She shifted on her feet this time and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Thought so," the punk mused, "What an idiot, as if he let you go."

"You let Courtney go."

"Wrong, she let me go, I just agreed so she'd get off my back."

Bridgette observed Duncan. He hadn't changed much in the past few years. From what she could see, he had acquired a few new piercings and grew another foot, but other than that he was still the same punk she met and despised on the island.

"See something you like?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrow at her. Bridgette scoffed.

"No, you haven't changed at all you know that?"

"Change sucks," he said, "I like structure."

"Ah, so that's why you like being behind bars, maybe I will give them a call."

"Hey, come on now," Duncan said, "That was uncalled for."

"Not really."

"Is that any way to treat an old teammate?"

"One who breaks the law all the time? Yes, I happen to think it was."

"Ah, touché, I have to admit you've changed a bit."

"Oh?"

"You've got more backbone; it's a very sexy new attitude for you."

Bridgette flushed slightly.

"I had crappy roommates in college," she said, "One was psycho and threatened to kill one of the other girls. I couldn't let her get away with that. So I went to the head of our building and then to the dean. She was kicked out."

"Never knew you had it in you, Mermaid."

Duncan grinned as the blonde surfer glared at him. She had changed an awful lot compared to him. Her hair was about six inches shorter and in layers, she was wearing a small amount of makeup too, something that added to her overall beauty. She hadn't grown much in height but he could tell she gained a little bit of weight. However, now she had even better curves, so he didn't mind it much.

"Where are you headed?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Peterborough, to see LeShawna and Tyler," Bridgette replied.

"LeShawna and Tyler?"

"Yeah, they're dating now."

"What about Harold and Lindsey?"

"Harold's with Eva and Lindsey's seeing Noah."

"Holy crap, what else have I missed?"

"A lot apparently," she mused, "Have you been to Peterborough before?"

"It's a nice place," he replied, "Been there a few times, you guys gonna check out some of the clubs?"

"Probably," she replied. She then picked up her suitcase and shoved it against his chest, "Be a gentleman for once and help me."

Duncan snickered.

"Sure thing Mermaid."

She rolled her eyes but smiled none-the-less.

"You're such a dork."

Duncan just snickered.

* * *

Together, the two of them left the train station; Duncan easily carrying Bridgette's bag and the blonde surfer checking her watch for the time. As they stepped out onto the street horns honked and tons of people brushed by them with a hurried pace that made Bridgette dizzy. She never understood why so many people were in such a huge hurry. Wherever they had to get to, she was sure it would still be there even if they slowed down a little bit.

"I hate it here," she mused, "Are there any places to eat around here? I'm starving."

"There's a Subway just over there," Duncan said, pointing down the street, "Hey, how about I let you buy me lunch?"

The blonde glared at him.

"No wonder Courtney dumped you."

"Ouch Mermaid, that hurt, okay then, how about we split on lunch?"

"How about you buy me lunch," Bridgette said, poking his chest, "With the money you nicked from my wallet."

Duncan laughed.

"You caught me, alright, lunch is on me."

* * *

Sitting in the restaurant together Bridgette munched on her food thoughtfully while watching Duncan as he scarfed down his.

"Jeez, slow down," she warned him, "You're gonna choke."

Duncan ignored her.

"When was the last time you had something decent to eat?"

"Two years," he muttered through a mouth filled with food. Bridgette's eyes widened in surprise and she set her food down, lacing her fingers underneath her chin.

"Why were you in jail?" she asked, her face softening. Duncan wiped his mouth on his napkin and looked at her, a slightly ashamed look in his eyes.

"Breaking and entering," he replied, "I got mixed up with some...not so good people. Turns out the house we broke into, belonged to a single mother with two kids. I didn't know it at the time so I called the cops and turned us in."

Bridgette arched an eyebrow.

"What a truly decent thing to do," she said. Duncan shrugged.

"In my opinion, there should always be a certain amount of honour with thieves," he mused, "I was hoping to break into a more difficult house with more valuables, rich people can always afford to get knocked down a rung or two. Single moms on the other hand, well I'm not interesting in making it harder for them to get by."

Bridgette crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.

"Honour among thieves?" she asked, "Duncan, you're no Robin Hood."

"Thank God for that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you even know how Robin Hood died?"

Bridgette was taken aback.

"No."

"Back in the day people thought that if you could make someone bleed out enough that any infection would be gone," he explained, "But we know today that if you bleed for too long, you..."

He waited for her to finish his sentence.

"Die?"

"Exactly."

"Wait a minute, how do you know any of this?" she asked, "Were you ever in school long enough?"

"They have tutoring programs in jail," Duncan replied, "I know you must hear about criminals 'bettering' themselves while they are in the place."

"Not that most of them deserve it," Bridgette muttered bitterly.

"True, but I like history, so I found a few books and I read them."

Bridgette went back to eating her food, watching Duncan with a confused and suspicious look on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"One minute I think you're nothing more than a punk and the next minute I think you have a decent side to you," she mused, "What's your deal anyway? Why can't you just clean up your act and start over."

Duncan shrugged.

"Can't stay on the straight and narrow forever," he said, "I think it's something like, 'over 50 percent of people who have committed a crime are 90 percent likely to do it again.'"

"So you like being another statistic?" she asked, "I would have thought that you of all people would be against conformity."

Duncan laughed.

"Can't argue with that logic," he said, "You sure put me in my place."

"I'm serious, why can't you go home? I'm sure you're parents miss you and would love to have you back."

"My parents quit on me a long time ago."

"I doubt that very much, I think it was you who gave up on them."

Duncan shifted under her watchful eyes.

"Can we talk about you now?" he asked. Bridgette sighed and opened her hands.

"What do you want to know?"

"What are you comfortable with telling me?" he replied with a wink. Bridgette rolled her eyes.

"You're a pain."

"I try, how about you just tell me what you've been up too since the show."

"Alright, fine. After the show I finished high school, I was my class valedictorian too. Now I'm going to school to be a vet. Geoff and I broke up last year and I'm still single, enjoying it too. I have to say that I'm pretty content with life right now. I was pretty glad to bump into you too now that I think about it."

It was Duncan's turn to be surprised by her words.

"Oh? Why?"

"Well, I hadn't seen or heard from you since the show was finished. I've managed to stay in touch with everyone, even Eva! You were the only one I haven't seen since then. I was curious to see how you were doing."

"Lucky you ran into me then."

She smiled and nodded. She then checked her watch for the time again.

"Crap," she said, "I have to go now. My bus leaves soon."

"Already?"

Bridgette nodded and got to her feet.

"Yeah, but it was really nice seeing you again Duncan. Try to stay in touch this time okay?"

She grabbed a pen out of her hoodie pocket and wrote her phone number on her napkin. He shoved it into his back pocket.

"If you call me though, it better not be the one phone call you get while you're in jail," she teased. He laughed.

"That's not really true," he pointed out, "I do get more than just one call."

"Good, then you have no excuse not to call."

She hugged him quickly, gathered up her things, and left the restaurant. Duncan stared after her for a moment as she tried to hail a taxi. He bit his lip and then hurried after her.

"Hey Bridge?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you on the island."

She arched her perfectly shaped eyebrow and then smiled.

"It's okay Duncan; Geoff told me all about your little boy alliance."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Can I give you a ride to the bus station?"

"You're not going to hot wire a car are you?"

"Nope, I save that for special occasions, usually a second date."

Bridgette rolled her eyes.

"Good thing we haven't been on a first one then."

Duncan picked up her bag.

"Wrong again Mermaid," he said, "We went out for lunch after all."

* * *

Thankfully Duncan's car was not stolen, 'borrowed', or hotwired. He even showed her his registration to assure her that it was indeed his. They drove in quiet for the most part. Duncan, it turned out, had a bad habit for yelling at other drivers if they did something stupid. Bridgette found this to be very amusing.

"Anyone ever tell you that your nose squints up when you drive?" she asked him. Duncan flushed.

"Yes."

"Don't be embarrassed," she told him, "It's very cute."

Duncan looked at her and smirked.

"I knew you wanted me."

"Not so much, but that modesty of yours is such a turn on," she replied sarcastically.

* * *

Once they arrived at the bus station Bridgette let the bus driver pack her suitcase into the bus and then she turned to say her goodbyes to Duncan.

"Thanks for the ride," she said, hugging him again, "It was great to see you again."

"You too Mermaid, and thanks for lunch."

She rolled her eyes.

"How much did you take?" she asked him.

"From you or over all?"

"From me."

Twenty bucks."

"You owe me 20 dollars then."

Duncan sighed. Here he thought she was gonna let him off the hook. But no such luck. He reached into his pocket and handed her a twenty.

"Sorry," he said, "I wouldn't have done it if I knew it was you. I'm serious."

Her face softened.

"I believe you."

She stood up on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Go see your parents Duncan," she told him said, patting his arm, "I think they'll be happy to see you."

He wasn't expecting that, but he found himself nodding.

"Sure, tell LeShawna and Tyler I said 'hey' when you see them then."

"I will."

Bridgette waved to him and got onto the bus, taking a seat near the back she waved to him again. He waved back and grinned. He then brushed his cheek where she had kissed him and turned to leave.

* * *

Bridgette was just getting settled into her seat and turning on her MP3 player when the bus started to leave. She preferred buses for some reason; the 2 and a half hour ride to Peterborough wouldn't be so bad. And no doubt she would sleep through most of it.

She pulled her book out of her back pack and was about to start reading it when the bus suddenly stopped. She looked up only to see a last minute arrival get on and handed the driver his ticket.

"Duncan?"

The surfer girl was surprised to see the punk make his way to the back of the bus and sit next to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I wanna see more of you before I go home," he replied wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "Think LeShawna and Tyler would mind if we showed up together?"

Bridgette laughed.

"What makes you think we're together?"

"I think it was the fact that you kissed me before you got on the bus."

"A kiss on the cheek between friends, punk," she told him.

"Give me a week," he said, "I bet I can prove to you that I'm totally boyfriend material."

She sighed.

"You're impossible."

* * *

"This is good here," Leshawna said. Tyler nodded and parked his car.

"Wonder why the bus was so late," he said.

"I'm sure everything's fine baby."

Together, they stepped out of their car and headed into the bus station. Leshawna was fairly excited to see her friend again. However, upon entering the station and seeing a certain punk with his hands all over the blushing blonde, her temper flared.

"Duncan! You get your fondling hands off of her right now!"

The punk jumped as LeShawna smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ouch!" he yelped, "I wasn't doing anything!"

"LeShawna, it's okay!" Bridgette said, as she and Tyler grabbed the tough sister's arms.

"Boy, I'm gonna beat you into next...wait a minute, its okay?"

Bridgette nodded and smiled at Duncan. Tyler laughed.

"Oh wow, Duncan you get around kid."

"Hey, I'm not a man whore," Duncan said to the jock. While the two boys started to bicker about each other's past history LeShawna sighed and shook her head.

"Bridgette, you are one special chick to put up with him. How did you two end up running into each other anyway?"

The blonde smiled.

"Well, it all started with him picking the wrong pocket."

* * *

**Winter-Rae:** Oh my brain hurts from writing that. Duncan and Bridgette together? It does not compute with me! So while I recover from brain malfunction please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading. Cheers!


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